EIGRP

Objectives
Describe the background and history of Enhanced Interior
Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP).
Examine the basic EIGRP configuration commands and
identify their purposes.
Calculate the composite metric used by EIGRP.
Describe the concepts and operation of DUAL.
Describe the uses of additional configuration commands in
EIGRP.
Introduction to
EIGRP
Introduction
IGRP to EIGRP
 EIGRP
Roots of EIGRP: IGRP
-Developed in 1985 to overcome RIPv1’s
limited hop count
-Distance vector routing protocol
-Metrics used by IGRP
▪ bandwidth (used by default)
▪ Delay (used by default)
▪ reliability
▪ load
-Discontinued support starting with IOS
12.2(13)T & 12.2(R1s4)S
Encapsulated EIGRP message
 EIGRP

EIGRP packet header contains

Opcode field
Autonomous System number
EIGRP Parameters contains
Weights
Hold time
 EIGRP
Protocol Dependent
Modules (PDM)
EIGRP uses PDM to route
several different protocols i.e.
IP, IPX & AppleTalk
PDMs are responsible for the
specific routing task for each
network layer protocol
 EIGRP
Reliable Transport Protocol (RTP)
Purpose of RTP
Used by EIGRP to transmit and receive EIGRP packets
Characteristics of RTP
Involves both reliable & unreliable delivery of EIGRP
packet
▪ Reliable delivery requires acknowledgment from
destination
▪ Unreliable delivery does not require an
acknowledgement from destination
Packets can be sent
▪ Unicast
▪ Multicast
Using address 224.0.0.10
 EIGRP Packet types
EIGRP’s 5 Packet Types
Hello packets
Used to discover & form adjacencies with neighbors
EIGRP Packet types
Update packets
Used to propagate
routing information
Acknowledgement
packets
Used to
acknowledge receipt
of update, query &
reply packets
EIGRP Packet types
Query & Reply packets
▪Used by DUAL for searching
for networks
▪Query packets
-Can use
▪Unicast
▪Multicast
▪Reply packet
-Use only
▪unicast
 EIGRP Hello packet
Purpose of Hello Protocol
To discover & establish adjacencies with neighbor routers
Characteristics of hello protocol
Time interval for sending hello packet
▪ Most networks it is every 5 seconds
▪ Multipoint non broadcast multi-access networks
Unicast every 60 seconds

-Holdtime
▪This is the maximum time
router should wait before
declaring a neighbor down
▪Default holdtime
–3 times hello interval
 EIGRP Update packet
EIGRP Bounded Updates
EIGRP only sends update when there is a change in route status
Partial update
A partial update includes only the route information that has
changed – the whole routing table is NOT sent
Bounded update
When a route changes, only those devices that are impacted will
be notified of the change
EIGRP’s use of partial bounded updates minimizes use of bandwidth
 EIGRP
Diffusing Update Algorithm (DUAL)
Purpose
EIGRP’s primary method for preventing routing loops
Advantage of using DUAL
Provides for fast convergence time by keeping a list of loop-free backup routes
Basic EIGRP
configuration
Basic EIGRP Configuration
Autonomous System (AS) & Process IDs
This is a collection of networks under the control of a single
authority (reference RFC 1930)
AS Numbers are assigned by IANA
Entities needing AS numbers
▪ ISP
 Basic EIGRP Configuration
EIGRP autonomous system number
actually functions as a Global process ID
Process ID represents an instance of the
routing protocol running on a router
Example
Router(config)#router eigrp autonomous-system
 Basic EIGRP Configuration
The router eigrp command
The global command that enables eigrp is
router eigrp autonomous-system
-All routers in the EIGRP routing domain must use the same
process ID number (autonomous-system number)
 Basic EIGRP Configuration
The Network Command
Functions of the network
command
Enables interfaces to transmit &
receive EIGRP updates
Includes network or subnet in
EIGRP updates
Example
Router(config-router)#network
network-address
 Basic EIGRP Configuration
The network Command with a Wildcard Mask
-This option is used when you want to configure EIGRP to
advertise specific subnets
-Example
Router(config-router)#network network-address [wildcard-
mask]
 Basic EIGRP Configuration
Verifying EIGRP
EIGRP routers must establish adjacencies with their neighbors
before any updates can be sent or received
Command used to view neighbor table and verify that EIGRP
has established adjacencies with neighbors is
show ip eigrp neighbors
 EIGRP

The show ip protocols command

is also used to verify that EIGRP
is enabled
 Basic EIGRP Configuration
Examining the Routing Table
The show ip route command is
also used to verify EIGRP
EIGRP routes are denoted in a
routing table by the letter “D”
By default , EIGRP automatically
summarizes routes at major
network boundary
EIGRP Metric
Calculation
EIGRP Metric Calculation
EIGRP Composite Metric & the K Values
EIGRP uses the following values in its composite metric
-Bandwidth, delay, reliability, and load
The composite metric used by EIGRP
formula used has values K1 →K5
K1 & K3 =1
all other K values =0
 How to calculate EIGRP metric
▪ Metric = [K1 * BW + ((K2 * BW) / (256 – load)) + K3 * delay] * [K5 / (reliability + K4)]
The EIGRP metric calculation can use five variables, but EIGRP uses only two by default:
•Bandwidth— The smallest (slowest) bandwidth between the source and destination
•Delay— The cumulative interface delay along the path
•Reliability— The worst reliability between the source and destination, based on keepalives.
•Loading— The worst load on a link between the source and destination based on the packet rate and the
interface's
•EIGRP Metric = IGRP Metric * 256 = Metric * 256

This metric equation is out of scope in CCNA level

EIGRP Metric Calculation
Use the sh ip protocols command to verify the K values
EIGRP Metric Calculation
EIGRP Metrics
Use the show interfaces
command to view metrics
EIGRP Metrics
Bandwidth – EIGRP uses a
static bandwidth to
calculate metric
Most serial interfaces use
a default bandwidth value
of 1.544Mbos (T1)
EIGRP Metric
EIGRP Metrics
Calculation
Delay is the defined as the measure of time it takes for a
packet to traverse a route
-it is a static value based on link type to which interface is
connected
EIGRP Metric Calculation
Reliability (not a default EIGRP metric)
-A measure of the likelihood that a link will fail
-Measure dynamically & expressed as a fraction of 255
the higher the fraction the better the reliability
Load (not a default EIGRP metric)
A number that reflects how much traffic is using a link
Number is determined dynamically and is expressed as
a fraction of 255
▪ The lower the fraction the less the load on the link
 EIGRP Metric Calculation
Using the Bandwidth Command
Modifying the interface bandwidth
-Use the bandwidth command
-Example
Router(config-if)#bandwidth kilobits
Verifying bandwidth
Use the show interface command
Note – bandwidth command
does not change the
link’s physical
bandwidth
EIGRP Metric Calculation
The EIGRP metric can be determined by examining the
bandwidth & delay
 EIGRP Metric Calculation
EIGRP uses the lowest bandwidth (BW)in its metric calculation
Calculated BW = reference BW (10^7) / lowest BW(kbps)
Delay – EIGRP uses the cumulative sum of all outgoing interfaces
Calculated Delay = the sum of outgoing interface delays
EIGRP Metric = calculated BW + calculated delay
EIGRP Metric Calculation
DUAL
DUAL Concepts
The Diffusing Update Algorithm (DUAL) is used to prevent
looping
DUAL Parameters
DUAL has many parameters used to do its operation
•Successor
•Feasible Distance (FD)
•Feasible Successor (FS)
•Reported Distance (RD) or Advertised Distance (AD)
•Feasible Condition or Feasibility Condition (FC)
 DUAL Concepts
Successor
The best least cost route to
a destination found in the
routing table.
Feasible distance (FD)
The lowest calculated
metric along a path to a
destination network
Or the metric of Successor
route.
 DUAL Concepts
Feasible Successors, Feasibility Condition & Reported Distance

▪ Feasible Successor
(FS)
-This is a loop free
backup route to same
destination as
successor route. So,
the router have a
Successor and
Feasible Successor
or more (if available)
for each network.
 DUAL Concepts
Feasible Successors, Feasibility Condition & Reported
Distance
Reported distance (RD)
-The metric that a router
reports to a neighbor
about its own cost to that
network or the distance
(metric) from the next
hop to the destination
network.
DUAL Concepts
Feasibility Condition
(FC)
-Met when a
neighbor’s RD is
less than the local
router’s FD to the
same destination
network
 DUAL Concepts
Next Hop
Distance Reported Distance
(RD) or (AD)

Feasible Distance
(FD)
FD= RD + Next Hop Distance
So, Feasibility Condition is if RD<FD → loop free path
if RD>= FD → loop may exist
 DUAL Concepts
Topology Table: Successor &
Feasible Successor
EIGRP Topology table
Viewed using the show ip
eigrp topology
command
▪ Contents of table include:
all successor routes
all feasible successor
routes
 DUAL Concepts
EIGRP Topology
Table dissected
 DUAL Concepts
Topology Table: No Feasible
Successor
A feasible successor may not
be present because the
feasibility condition may not
be met
-In other words, the
reported distance of the
neighbor is greater than or
equal to the current
feasible distance
 DUAL Concepts
DUAL FSM
Selects a best loop-free
path to a destination
Selects alternate routes by
using information in EIGRP
tables
DUAL Concepts
Finite State Machines (FSM)
To examine output from EIGRP’s finite state machine us the
debug eigrp fsm command
More EIGRP
Configuration
More EIGRP Configurations
Disabling Automatic Summarization
The auto-summary command permits EIGRP to automatically
summarize at major network boundaries
The no auto-summary command is used to disable automatic
summarization
This causes all EIGRP neighbors to send updates that will not
be automatically summarized
▪ this will cause changes to appear in both
-routing tables
-topology tables
More EIGRP Configurations

Manual Summarization
Manual summarization can include supernets
Reason: EIGRP is a classless routing protocol & include subnet
mask in update
Command used to configure manual summarization
Router(config-if)#ip summary-address eigrp as-number
network-address subnet-mask
More EIGRP Configurations
Configuring a summary route in EIGRP
 More EIGRP
EIGRP Default Routes
Configurations
“quad zero” static default route
-Can be used with any currently supported routing protocol
-Is usually configured on a router that is connected a network outside
the EIGRP domain
EIGRP & the “Quad zero” static default route
Requires the use of the redistribute static command to disseminate
default route in EIGRP updates
More EIGRP Configurations
Configuring Hello Intervals and Hold Times
-Hello intervals and hold times are configurable on a per-interface
basis
-The command to configure hello interval is
Router(config-if)#ip hello-interval eigrp as-number
seconds
Changing the hello interval also requires changing the hold time to
a value greater than or equal to the hello interval
-The command to configure hold time value is
Router(config-if)#ip hold-time eigrp as-number seconds